Using estar+gerund instead of ir+gerund

Meltem O.C1Kwiziq community member

Using estar+gerund instead of ir+gerund

In the exercise, I translated 'so he was getting a little nervous' as 'así que se estaba poniendo un poco nervioso' but Kwizbot corrected it as 'así que se fue poniendo un poco nervioso'. In the explanation pages we are told that these two constructions are interchnageable but ir+gerund is more emphatic. So why was mine corrected? Is it wrong grammatically or does it sound absurd?

Asked 4 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hola Meltem,

sorry about the late reply. Your answer is also correct, you can also say "así que se estaba poniendo un poco nervioso". There is no hint in the exercise saying that you should use the structure with "ir + gerund" so your alternative is as good. 

Un saludo cordial,

Inma

Martin B.C1Kwiziq community member

Could you also say "pero su pregunta quedó sin respuesta" instead of "pero su pregunta no fue contestada"?

InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hola Meltem

It is a very similar answer so I'd say yes -the only thing is that when you use the verb "quedar" that would sound as if he had been waiting for a long time for some sort of answer and then no answer came. But, yes, it is a very good approximate answer.

Saludos

Inma

Using estar+gerund instead of ir+gerund

In the exercise, I translated 'so he was getting a little nervous' as 'así que se estaba poniendo un poco nervioso' but Kwizbot corrected it as 'así que se fue poniendo un poco nervioso'. In the explanation pages we are told that these two constructions are interchnageable but ir+gerund is more emphatic. So why was mine corrected? Is it wrong grammatically or does it sound absurd?

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